Nam Mae Ping น้ำแม่ปิง

by Mark Whitman, Photo by Song

Lanna Style food in restaurant facing the river Ping

Coming from the City over Narrawat Bridge one can go straight on, turn left towards the many busy and tourist orientated restaurants and galleries or turn right towards the much quieter stretch of road, facing the Ping river. Do that and about 200 yards on your left (the wide river is of course to your right) you will find a well- established eating place called the Nam Mae Ping. Immediately past it you will find their parking space for cars and motor bikes.

This unpretentious and inexpensive restaurant serves Lanna or northern Thai style food, which means - as many people will know – some unusual spices and dips and a very heavy accent on pork dishes including the ever popular pork scratchings or as they are known in other countries, pork crackling. As noted the prices are very reasonable and portions are generous. It does not seem to attract farang customers who congregate towards the live music and bustling river side places but is certainly worth checking out if you hanker for something a little different, It is a quiet eating venue with fairly rapid service – in fact local style, not for fancy dining.

On a recent visit my partner and I had just one large Singha beer(80 baht) to complement the food and they also serve Heineken (90), Chang (70) and Leo (60) plus plenty of soft drinks and a wide range of teas - at equally modest prices. As another indication of how reasonable they are, jasmine rice is just 10 baht and the ‘special’ starter of which more later is under 90 baht – enough for four people. They also serve sticky rice, although personally I find that too heavy with a main evening meal, preferring it with a Thai salad or even with that tourist favourite mango and coconut milk.

Their starter special is a platter at either 89 or 59 baht (for two) with pork crackling, two types of sausage and the like and a variety of dips and accompaniments. Worth trying, as is either of the two “Korean’ dishes – the beef or pork, tenderized and served with a spicy sauce. This is possibly their best offering and was far better than the deep fried fish fillets which were rather heavy. The menu is quite extensive and we also tried a spicy soup, which was also good and plentiful.

The whole meal with the beer and a tip came to a little over 300 baht and was more than enough to eat. The seating is in a pleasant enough garden with wooden benches and tables and plenty of greenery to shield people from the main road. They are open every day and there is no need to reserve a table as it is quite spacious and not a place where people linger. So next time you fancy Lanna food head for the big bridge, turn right and slow down.. Mark Whitman. Photos by Song.

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Address: 35 Chiangmai-Lamphun Rd, T.Wat Kate

Open Daily 10.00 - 22.00 | Tel: 053 - 266 046

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